Own A Share of Nirwana

If You Have a Spare US$169 Million, You, Too, Can Own a Majority Share of the Le Meridien Nirwana Golf and Spa.

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(2/17/2007)

The financially troubled PT Bali Nirwana Resort, the owner of the Le Meridien Nirwana Golf and Spa, is seeking to sell 70.5% of its assets and debt valued at Rp. 1.54 trillion (approximately US$169.23 million).

According to the Indonesian-language Bisnis Indonesia, PT Perusahaan Pengelola Asset (PTPAA), a Government-owned company charged with sorting out the financial affairs of the Company, plans to sell the 70.5% share in the Resort within one year.

Seeking a Financial Consultant

According to the President Director of PTPAA, Mohammad Syahrial, financial and legal consultants are now being appointed to assist in the planned sale. PTPAA will reportedly also grant permission to the Resort to seek US$9 million in outside funding to undertake needed repairs and renovations at the Resort.

Control of 70.5% of the shares in the Resort was transferred to PTPAA from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) when the owners defaulted on loans held to Indonesian banks. The remaining shares in the company are held by the family of Abdul Rizal Bakrie, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare.

A Fair Price?

Efforts four years ago by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) to sell the 70.5% share in the Resort to a Japanese and Singapore consortium floundered when the investors failed to come to terms on price and various conditions of sale.

The proposed price of a 70.5% share of the Resort suggests that gross the value of the 100-hectare golf resort and 278-room hotel complex is US$ 240 million – a figure based on the owner's expectations and outstanding loans on the books incurred during the course of developing the property. Reportedly many potential investors are wary of the value placed on the Resort, claiming the PT BNR's asking price cannot be jutified by calculations based on the property's replacement value or its current income-generating potential.